Do you love me too?
by Al bhed Princess
Summary: Rikku loves Gippal. But does he love her too, or is he just a friend. But wait! what happens if we bring Elma in the picture? New Chap is up! i removed chap 4 which wasnt chappie, so new chap is called 9, but i guess is really 10... New chap is up!
1. I cant do anything

Ok, I don't own Final Fantasy 10 2 or the characters, blah blah (so don't sue!)  
  
Rikku stared at the machina. Why did it have to leak like that? It had already ruined her skirt. It had ruined the bottom of her scarf. She hoped it wouldn't ruin her top. The only good thing about it was that Gippal hadn't seen what a loser she was. She was sick of this one. She kicked it, and decided to leave it to Gippal to finish up. She had been working for Gippal since they defeated Vegnagun. She never thought she would be the first to leave the Gullwings, but she had to follow her heart. At least that's what Yunie said. (A/N I call Yuna Yunie too) But Yunie had known Tidus loved her. (They live together happily). Rikku didn't know what Gippal thought of her. She started to go back to her room when a familiar voice called out, "Hey Cid's girl, I got a job for you." Rikku's turned round to face Gippal, and gave him her best smile. "I have a name you know." He grinned at her. He looked at the machina. "What, you couldn't even fix that? Maybe I've got the wrong person for the job." "No! I can do it! I can do anything!" He grinned again and led her outside.  
  
Rikku stared at it. He actually expected her to fix that! It was twice as big as her! It was going mad at the moment. Sparks flew everywhere, and its arms (A/N does machina have arms? Well in this story they do.) were flailing about, threatening to take her head off. He had offered her a bonus if she did it. But she didn't care about the money. The only reason she was here, was for him. Didn't he realise that? He may have lost one eye but that doesn't make him blind! (A/N does anyone know how he lost his eye? I would like to know.) She walked around to the back of the machina and studied it. "Ok, a twist there, a pull there and a couple of tweaks, and there!" She actually fixed it! She couldn't believe it! She was feeling pretty good about herself. Right up until it exploded. "Oh poopie! I cant do anything right!" she threw herself on the ground and tried to stop herself from crying. "You can do lots of things right. Don't cry." Gippal's voice made her jump. She rubbed her eyes and tried to hide the fact that she had been crying. But he already knew. "I wasn't crying!" Gippal stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Alright maybe I was, but I cant do anything right! You know I cant!" "Here I'll help you." Rikku mumbled a thank you and stood behind him, while he tweaked at the machina. "Here, if you go round that side, and do what I'm doing, we'll finish in no time."  
  
No time turned out to be a couple of hours, but Rikku enjoyed every second of it. Gippal was doing his best to cheer her up, and Rikku liked that he was paying so much attention to her. "There. You see, you can do things right Rikku." She smiled at him. Then she realised that he had just called her Rikku. She gave him a hug, and he didn't have a clue why. "What was that for?" "For calling me by my name!" "Then I should call you Rikku more often." He smiled at her they went back inside together. He looked like he wanted to say something to her, but didn't know what. Rikku opened her mouth to say something but a blonde Al bhed man interrupted her. (A/N are all Al bhed blonde? Buddy's not is he?" "Gippal we got a big problem!" he said in Al bhed. Gippal sighed and said goodnight to Rikku. Rikku said goodnight back. Before he left he bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You can do lots of things Rikku." Her heart raced. Did this mean he liked her too? She skipped back to her bedroom and dreamt about her and Gippal. 


	2. Jealousy

A/N Oh no! My first chapter was so short! I'll make this one longer! Well, I'll try. (  
  
Rikku woke up to Gippal's voice. "Rikku, we have to get out of here! Now!" "W what! Why? What's going on?!" Gippal didn't say anything, just grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside. It was freezing! She was only in her jammies! What the heck was going on! "Gippal, why are we outside? What's happening!" Gippal looked worried. "There's something in the cave. Do you remember the one I told you about?" she didn't but she nodded anyway. "Well, there's something down there. A bunch of my men went down there, and came back petrified. They can't even talk. No one wants to go down there." Rikku smiled. "Don't worry Gippy! This is the kinda thing I do!" "Gippy? I don't want you going down there. You could get hurt." "Aw, you care about me!" "Actually I think your dad would kill me." Rikku pouted. "I'm kidding Rikku. Of course I care about you!" and he turned round to talk to his men. Rikku was practically glowing. He said he cared! Maybe he really does care about her! He'd better! Still, if Rikku did go down there and pound on whatever was down there, she could impress him! Maybe he'd be so dazzled by her, he would declare undying love to her! Well, maybe. (().  
  
They were all out there for the whole night. Rikku woke up, and looked around for Gippal. Where had he gone? She walked over to an Al bhed she saw usually talking to Gippal, and asked where he went. "He went to check out that cave." "He did!" well there goes her plans. "How longs he been gone?" the man just shrugged at her. She frowned and decided to go look for Gippal. She walked up to the temple and was stopped by two very large guards. "Hey let me in!" "Sorry, but no one can go in. Gippal's orders." "But I need to see Gippal!" one of the guards snickered. She gave him a deadly glare. "Look buddy, you're gonna make me do something I don't want to do in a minute!" she warned him. "Oh yeah, what are you gonna do, shorty?" "No one calls me shorty!" she raised her fist and knocked him out. "Calm down! Alright you can go see Gippal but he won't be happy about it." "Thank you." Rikku smiled at him, and "accidentally" trod on the other guard. "Woops! Sorry!" a worker looked at the guard on the floor. "You're new here aren't you?" "How'd you guess?" "You tried to stop Rikku seeing Gippal!"  
  
Rikku looked around her. The temple looked completely different. A heavy fog was swirling around her feet. The machina had all been moved outside, and no one was in there. She coughed. It echoed all around her, making it seem like there were a hundred Rikku's. She didn't like it in there. It was seriously creepy. And she was still only in her jammies. She walked over to her room to see if her clothes were there. They were. She picked up her thief dressphere, and checked if it was ok. "Good. Something to wear." She carried it back out of her room with her and made her way towards the cave.  
  
Now that she thought about it, she did vaguely remember Gippal saying something about it. Something about a remarkable find down there, or whatever. Well it didn't matter now. All that mattered was that she found Gippal, and see if he was alright. She changed in to her dressphere and started to pull at her scarf. It was what she did when she was nervous. Or thinking. "Would Gippal want me down there? Would he tell me to get out and get angry with me? But if he was in trouble, he'd need help so... what do I do?" she looked at the cave. It was dark down there. Rikku didn't like the dark. Fiends could creep up behind you and you wouldn't know until it was too late. She took a deep breath and stepped in. The air was damp, and when she put her hand on a wall, she found it was moist. There was a lot more fog down there than in the temple. It scared her and she wanted to get out, put she knew she had to find Gippal.  
  
Gippal looked around him. He could barely see. He knew he should have brought someone down with him. He would have asked Rikku, but she was fast asleep. He didn't get why his men were so freaked out. Sure this place was a bit creepy, but nothing to wet your pants over. He sighed and started to make his way back out. As he was walking he saw a figure walking towards him. Whoever it was, was muttering to them selves. Gippal knew that voice. He wondered if Rikku had seen him. He leant against the wall and Rikku walked past him. He smirked and walked behind her. When they were in the darkest bit, Gippal but both hands on her shoulders and shouted "Boo!" the best word ever. (Ok it was pretty lame, but you think of something then! () Rikku shrieked and leapt 5 feet in the air. Gippal laughed. "Gippal! You meanie! You scared me half to death!" "Oh only half?" she hit his arm playfully. "What are you doing down here anyway?" "I came to find you!" "Couldn't stand being away from me huh?" Rikku turned bright red. "I wont bother next time then!" he grinned at her. "Come on lets go back"  
  
Rikku followed Gippal, always making sure she didn't get left behind. Gippal kept looking back, making sure she was still with him. "Did you find anything down there?" what Rikku really wanted to say was, "I love you Gippal! Do you love me too?" but she knew better than that. "Nope. Don't know why people were freaked out." What he really wanted to say was "did you bring any food with you? I missed breakfast." But he didn't see any, so he thought this would be a pretty pointless question. They walked along in silence for a while, and then Rikku let out a piercing scream. "Gippal help! Something's got me! Something's got me!" Gippal looked at the fiend. It was a small lupin (A/N one of those wolf thingys. (). He blasted it with his gun. It limped off. "Oh. I thought it was bigger." She looked embarrassed. He smiled and said, "It was good shooting practise."  
  
Rikku stared at the campfire. Gippal sat next to her. He pulled out his stick, with three marshmallows on it. "Want one?" he offered. (A/N I don't suppose you get marshmallows in Spira. Oh well, I don't like marshmallows. () She smiled and took one. "Thanks." She nibbled it. She felt like an idiot. After screaming like a girl (A/N why do people say that? I'm offended by that. Well not really. (), because of a small lupin, she had managed to trip up, and fall flat on her face 3 times. Gippal must think she was an idiot. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to." "No I do! I was just thinking about something." He nodded and ate another marshmallow. Rikku loved the way he did that. Just tossed it in his mouth and swallowed. She loved everything about him. She loved him. She put her head on his shoulder. He put his head on top of hers. They were in their own small spot, away from all the other workers. Rikku thought it was very romantic. Gippal put his arm around her waist. They sat like that for a while and then Rikku got tired of waiting and kissed him. She had never been so happy.  
  
Gippal stared at the fire while putting his arm around her waist. He thought about kissing her but wasn't sure if she would like him to. So he was pretty damn surprised when she kissed him. But he liked it. Heck, he loved it. They were in their own private world and no one could disturb them. But way away, a girl sat watching them. Hate poured out of her eyes at Rikku. Jealousy ate at her stomach. How dare she kiss him. He was hers! (A/N oh no he wasn't! ()  
  
Rikku and Gippal walked back to their tents together, and Gippal kissed Rikku goodnight. Rikku was so happy. She didn't think she had ever been happier. But she should have known better than to steal Elma's man! (I couldn't think of a name. So now Elma loves Gippal. ()  
  
Next time: Elma loves Gippal but Gippal loves Rikku. What will Elma do to Rikku in revenge? You'll have to wait and see... 


	3. Bye bye rikku!

I love you Batcat because you were the first to review! (Apart from me!) You said my story was great! You made me really happy! I really love you! (In a friendly way. Soz)  
  
Elma was angry. How dare she steal her man! How dare she! She would have to be punished! But how? Maybe Elma could get a chocobo to peck her brains out! (It's quite good on toast. Shrek! :p) Or maybe she could put a spaz machina in her room. That might do it! Or what if she just went in with a gun and killed her herself? No wait! Of course! All she has to do is tell Rikku that Gippal has gone in the cave, and wants her to go to, and then block her in and let whatever got the men, get her! Elma was so pleased with herself she did a happy dance. (A/N that's what I do. That's what I did when I read Batcat's review! :p)  
  
The next day Elma casually went up to Rikku, making sure that Gippal wasn't around (A/N he had gone to Bikanel without telling Rikku, for the purpose of this story :p), and told her he asked her to meet him down in the cave. "Oh. Why?" "I don't know! It's just his message!" she snapped. "Ok grumpy!" and Rikku turned on her heels and jumped into the cave. Elma cackled maniacally. People turned to stare at her. "I'm practising for a play." She told them. They shrugged and carried on walking.  
  
Gippal looked at Nhadala. "Ok, what was so terrible that I had t rush out here?" "The cactuar nation. We've had a bit of a, er, disagreement." She pointed to the hover and he made his way over to the driver.  
  
Rikku walked through the darkness calling out for Gippal. She tripped over about a thousand rocks or even diamonds, she couldn't tell, it was too dark. She walked on for about half an hour before she spotted a figure in the dark. "Gippal!" she called out cheerfully. The figure turned to face her. Her scream was muffled in the cave; no one could hear her.  
  
Elma listened by the entrance for a long time. When she finally heard a scream, she rolled a boulder in front of the entrance so Rikku couldn't escape. She put up sign saying; do not go in here! This is closed! –Gippal. Elma laughed to herself. Without Rikku Gippal was wide open. He was hers.  
  
A/N what has Rikku seen? What is wrong with the cactuar nation? And when will we get to see Elma's play?! Oh wait a minute... :p find out the answers in next chappie! Suspense! Suspense! Xxx! :p! 


	4. Mysterious figure

Thank you Gippikku! You reviewed! Yay! :p. your right it does seem too sweet of him. But that's how I like my guys!  
  
Rikku looked at the figure. She fell to the floor. The face was so covered in scratches and cuts that it was impossible to tell if it was female or male. The face was covered in blood. Rikku snapped back into life and tried to get to her feet. She was shaking like mad. She tried to run, but found she couldn't. It reached out its hand and put it on her bare stomach. She felt like her breath was taken from her. She collapsed to the ground. Her eyes remained open but she blacked out. The figure bent over her, and made a deep cut on her cheek.  
  
"Benzo, what the hell is she saying?" Gippal stood in the blazing heat, standing opposite Marnular (A/N sorry if I spelt that wrong!) and looking at Benzo for help. "I'll translate. She said that she asked for help to deal with the rogue cactuars but got a message saying we had more important things to do. She's very offended." Gippal nodded slowly. "Ok. I'm very sorry about who said that, I think your problem is very serious, but we just can't spare the men at the moment. As soon as we can we will." "She say's 'what about the Lady Yuna?' that's the gist of it." "I never thought about asking her. That's a good idea." "We need help as soon as we can. She says that they are stronger than ever before." "Ok, I'll go back to Djose and call the Gullwings."  
  
Elma was fidgeting she couldn't help it. She was curious about what had happened to Rikku, and about what was down there. She could go and take a sneaky peek. What harm could it do? She picked up a gun, and pushed the boulder aside. "Excuse me, could you watch the cave, and if I scream send people in? Gippal's orders" she added. The guy she was taking to nodded, and Elma jumped in.  
  
Rikku lay there completely unconscious, and with a deep cut on her cheek. Elma walked up to the figure on the ground and thought she was dead. She smiled, but something felt wrong. What was this she was feeling? Guilt. She knew she couldn't leave her down there. She wished she could. She sighed and called out, "Help! Someone help! She's hurt!"  
  
Rikku woke up surrounded by people. Gippal was there. "Rikku! I was so worried! I thought you were..." he found he couldn't say the word. Rikku smiled at him. Her cheek hurt. She tried to say she was ok, but she couldn't speak. She tried so hard, but no sound came out of her mouth. "Get the high summoner here. Is she back from Bikanel?" the Al bhed next to him mumbled a gruff, I'll look into it. "You should rest Rikku." She tried to say she had rested enough, but it just wouldn't come out. Would she ever be able to speak again?  
  
A/N will Rikku speak again? The only thing that can help her is love. But who was the figure that attacked her? Find out in the next chappie!  
  
A/N oh no! Another short chappie! Oh well. :p 


	5. Maechen!

A/N Yay! People are reviewing! Which means that I will try to write longer chappies. By the way, most of these turn out to be 3 pages long on word, but not when I put them up. I do try! Honest! :p  
  
Yuna ran in to Djose Temple. "Where is she? Where is she?!" "Yuna! She's in her room. You've got to help her! She won't speak!" Yuna ran to Rikku and grabbed her hand. "Oh Rikku, what happened to you?" she was sobbing. Rikku tried to speak, but because she couldn't, tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks. "What did you do to her? Why can't she talk?" "Me! I didn't do anything! I was in Bikanel desert!" Rikku was confused. Didn't Elma say he was down there? Elma? Elma! Rikku struggled to get out of bed and ran up to a piece of paper. She started searching for a pen. "Rikku! You have to rest!" "She's trying to write something you idiot! I knew letting her work for you would be a mistake!" "I didn't do this to her! Elma says she found her in the cave!" while Yuna and Gippal fought about it, Rikku wrote, 'Elma! Talk to Elma!' She couldn't write lots because her head was fuzzy, and it was hard to focus. She picked up the paper and shoved it into Yuna's hand. Yuna read it. "Elma did this to you?" Rikku shook her head. She started making different gestures, but no one could understand them. Getting angry, Rikku walked outside and pointed to the cave. Then she pointed to where she wrote Elma. "Elma, cave?" Rikku waved her arms wildly. "Elma, went to the cave?" she shook her head. She grabbed the piece of paper and tried writing again. It wasn't as fuzzy this time.  
  
Yuna stood in the cave. Tidus and Paine stood beside her. "So, what are we looking for?" Yuna looked at what Rikku had written again. "Rikku said, well not really but you now what I mean, that Elma told her to go down here, and that she ran into...I cant read it!" Tidus took the paper and squinted at it. "A geiojks? Can Rikku even write?" Paine took the sheet and looked at it. "A monster. You couldn't work that out?" Yuna and Tidus blushed. Paine read on. "Its face bled. Great, so we're looking for a monster with very bad spots. Fun." "Well, we've had worse." "That's it, Rikku is coming back to the Celsius with us! My cousin is not being near some weirdo monster thingy!" Tidus and Paine smiled.  
  
Rikku sulked. She wanted to go with them to beat up that monster, but they didn't let her. She wanted to be like when she was with the Gullwings. Maybe she should take a break from machina, and go for a bit of sphere hunting. It did sound tempting. Back on the Celsius with Yunie and Paine. And Tidus of course! It would be fun. The new and improved Gullwings! The more she thought of it, the better it sounded! She would come back to the Machine Faction. She would just take a break. Yeah! Rikku smiled. She looked at the mirror beside her bed. She walked up to it and opened her mouth. No sound came out. She tried again. Still nothing. She tried for ages. It didn't feel like she would ever talk again. She tried again, for the last time she decided, really hard, and she squeaked! She grinned and tried again. She squeaked again, louder this time. She stood there squeaking, and then tried with a word. "Rikku!" she squeaked. Except it came out, "Rikkkkkkkkk" well, it was a start. Maybe something without a K. "Yuna!" it came out, a bit higher than normal but it still came out. "Paine! Tidus! Gippal! The Gullwings!"  
  
"Well, there's a lot of fiends, but no spotty monsters!" Tidus looked around, waiting for it to appear. "I said no spotty monsters!" he shouted this time. It was no good. They couldn't find it. Yuna sighed. "We might as well go back. We're not going to find anything." Paine nodded. Yuna led the way back out. Paine stopped. "Do you two hear something?" Tidus stopped and frowned. "Yeah, it sounds like footsteps." "And groaning" Yuna added. "Hello!" she called out. She turned round. "Maybe we're imagining it?" "Yuna behind you!" Yuna turned round. She gasped. She was looking in to the face of...Maechen! (In zanarkand he says he's an unsent.) His face was covered in blood. His fingernails were now claws. "Maechen! What are you doing!" he didn't speak, just reached his hand out. "Don't let him touch you!" Paine pulled out her sword and Tidus pulled out Brotherhood. He swiped it at his hand. It went right through. "How are we supposed to beat him? We can't attack him!" "Maybe magic's the answer!" "Its worth a try!" Yuna pulled out her Flora Fallal dressphere. She began casting all her spells at him, randomly. "Use Holy!" all three cast Holy on him. "Yes! It's working!" Maechen collapsed. Yuna changed to normal again. "Phew! That took up all my MP!" "It's not over yet." Maechen stood up and unleashed Ultima. Then he was surrounded by pyreflies. All three fell to the floor. They were near death, but they had won.  
  
Rikku was getting tired of waiting. What was taking so long? They could be in trouble! She picked up her Dark Knight dressphere, and put her head out the door. Good, no sign of Gippal. He would just try to stop her. Rikku started to walk out, but then went back in and grabbed the white mage dressphere. "They could be hurt. I might need it." She ran to the entrance and jumped in. Now that she had her voice back, for the most part, she was saying all kinds of words, to make sure it didn't go away. "Gullwings! Machina! Dresspheres! Oil! Chocobo! Yellow! YUNIE!!!!!" she ran to where the three of them lay. She pulled out the white mage dressphere and cast Full-life on the party. Yuna's eyes opened. "Rikku?" "Yunie! You're ok!" "You can talk!" Rikku turned to Paine. "I got my voice back. You can't expect me to stay silent for the rest of my life! What happened?" "Maechen." "Gramps? What about him?" "He was the monster. Didn't you recognise him?" Rikku thought about the monster. "I was too scared." She admitted.  
  
Rikku looked over Shinra's shoulder. That little wunderkid never stops working! Yunie had forced Rikku to come back to the Gullwings, and Rikku wasn't gonna disagree! She smiled. It was good to be home! But she did miss Gippal.  
  
Gippal sat on the bridge near Djose. He missed Rikku. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He's had loads of girlfriends, but he never felt about them the way he felt about Rikku. She was special. He didn't know for sure, but he thought he might be in love. He would have to tell her. If this was love, he couldn't lose her.  
  
A/N ok, now that Maechen is gone, Djose is safe! But has he really gone? And will Gippal reveal his feelings to Rikku? What will the Gullwings find while sphere hunting? Find out in the next chappie! :p 


	6. Seymour!

A/N eeeeewwwww! We were putting condoms on plastic models in PSE! They were sooooooo slimy!  
  
Rikku crept into Chateau Leblanc. "Rikku! Can you get into Leblanc's room? That's where the sphere is." "Got it Yunie! Ok lets see...yup! No problem there!" "Good! Look by Nooj's statue." Rikku walked in. Technically the Gullwings and the Leblanc syndicate were on friendly terms, but they had a sphere that the Gullwings wanted. Rikku wanted to go on this mission so bad that they let her. But Yuna was checking up on her every minute. "Rikku, how you doing?" "Yunie I'm gonna turn this thing off if you keep doing this!" "I just want to make sure your safe." Rikku rolled her eyes. She smiled at the guy outside Leblanc's room. "Is Leblanc in there?" "Nope. Out with Nooj." Rikku smiled wider.  
  
"That was easy! Lets see what was on that sphere." Yuna pressed play. Leblanc came on screen. She was saying something, but they couldn't hear what. Then she pointed to Nooj's statue. That was it. "Well. That was worth stealing wasn't it." Paine said. "Did you pick up the wrong one?" "Buddy said there was only one. What a dud!" "I thought there was supposed to be something amazing on this sphere?" Rikku shrugged at Tidus's question. "Humph. Throw it away! Give it back! Its worth nothing!" Rikku turned and glared at Brother. "I went through all that trouble, and you just want to throw it away?!" "I thought you said it was easy." Rikku glared at Paine. "Well, it wasn't worth stealing, but its embarrassing to give back a sphere after stealing it." "Its what we did in Kilika." Paine pointed out to Yuna. Rikku sighed and walked over to Buddy. "Oh Rikku, I think Gippal wants to see you." "He does!" Yuna came over. "No." "What? Yunie!" "No! I won't let you see him!" "That's not fair! What did he ever do to you!" "Rikku, I don't want you going anywhere near Djose!" "What if they met up somewhere else?" Yuna thought about it. "Alright."  
  
Rikku stood on the moonflow. Why Gippal said here she didn't know. Why he wanted to see her, she didn't care. She was just happy that he did. She stared at the shoopuff. It looked like it was staring at her too. She walked up to it. "Ride ze shoopuff?" "Oh no thanks. I was just looking at it." The hypello nodded and walked away. She patted its side. "Hiya little guy. Big guy." She added, realising this was very wrong. "Rikku!" she turned to see Gippal walking towards her. She smiled at him. She went to give him hug, but a wave of power flew over the Moonflow. Rikku was thrown back to the shoopuff. She could have sworn she saw Seymour's face. She thought she saw the cave at Djose too. She heard a laugh near her. No doubt about it, it was Seymour's. Her vision went fuzzy. Echoing inside her ears was that sinister laugh. She thought she saw a pool of blood by her feet. She squinted and looked to see if anyone was hurt. Gippal seemed fine. So did everyone else. Well. They weren't bleeding anyway. That just left her. She looked at her stomach. She felt like screaming. A huge gash on her stomach poured out blood. She felt dizzy. She fell into the red puddle. Her blood.  
  
Wherever she expected to wake up, it wasn't where she was at the moment. It looked like a palace. White marble glistened all around her. But as she looked at it, it changed. She was suddenly surrounded by icky black stone. It definitely didn't look like a palace anymore. She saw a dark figure standing in the doorway. Whoever it was wore a thick black cloak. She couldn't see their face. "Where am I?" the figure didn't say anything. "Who are you?" the figure walked towards a window. Rikku glared at the figure. It spoke suddenly. "I was once called Maester. But thanks to you and your friends, I shall never be called that again." The voice made Rikku's blood run cold. Seymour was supposed to be dead. "But, but you're, you're..."she found herself hurled onto the floor of the cave, before she could answer. "Dead!" he spat. "I have been dead a while. But I had unfinished business. Thanks to you and lady Yuna." Rikku drew out her daggers. She wished she had her dark knight dressphere! Seymour laughed. "You actually think you can fight me? I don't think so!" "Oh really? I do!" she dived at him, daggers pointing at him. He blocked it, and threw her against a wall. She struggled to her feet. She saw him coming at her. She jumped to the left. He stopped himself banging into a wall. He drew out a sword. Rikku's mouth fell open. It was almost as big as her! She flew at him, and hit him. Her daggers made tiny little scratches. Didn't even break the skin. He laughed harder. Then he started to cast a spell. It was the most powerful spell Rikku had ever felt. She fell to the ground, Seymour's laughing ringing in her ears. Seymour looked at the collapsed Rikku. He smiled and walked off, leaving her to die.  
  
A/N I hope the battle scene was ok. I'm not very good at those.  
  
Will Rikku die? Why is Seymour down there anyway? And why does the cave keep coming up? Find out next time... squeal! :p 


	7. Dont die!

A/N I got detention! I'm a good girl! I don't get detention! And it's with my year head! Just because I was half a minute late for music! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( I cant remember what happened last time. I'm soooooo sorry these last chapters are late! Sooo sorry! I hate it when you have to wait for ages for the next chappie! I'm very very sorry! :]  
  
Yuna waited for Rikku to come back. And waited. And waited. She was starting to get angry. "Where is she?" "She's probably just lost track of time. Don't worry." Yuna looked at Tidus. "Don't worry? Don't worry! How can I not worry! My cousins disappeared!" "She's only an hour late Yuna." Paine was used to a crazy Rikku, but Yuna was normally so laid back. It was different. "Only? Only!" "Can you please stop talking like that." Paine did the only thing she could in these situations. Her natural sarcasm kicked in. "You're never going to find her if you just stand here talking about it." Tidus pointed out. Yuna thought about it for a sec. "Buddy, take us to the moonflow!"  
  
Yuna stepped out. "Wow! What happened?" Yuna looked around her. The hypello were sitting around a fire. The shoopuff was no where to be seen. The whole Warf was destroyed. "Yikes! What happened here?" Tidus asked one of the hypello. "There wash a big wave. Sho powerful! The blonde girl, she wash hurt. But we closhed our eyesh, and she wash gone!" "Rikku! We have to find her!" "Do you know what the 'wave' was?" Paine asked him. He didn't answer her. Yuna was now hyperventilating. (That's so scary when it happens. My friend started hyperventilating after PE. She's not back at school yet. Get well soon Claireabell! :p) Tidus looked over at her. "Calm down! We'll find her! Just don't have a heart attack!" "Let's go talk to Gippal. He was with her. Maybe he'll know what happened." Yuna nodded at Paine. But she was still going crazy.  
  
Tidus sat with Yuna. He was trying to calm her down, but was failing miserably. She couldn't stop crying. They were heading towards Djose temple. Paine stood in the bridge. She didn't want to disturb Tidus and Yuna. She thought they would prefer to be alone. She watched as Brother shouted at Buddy. "Hurry up! I'm going to find out what that idiot Gippal has done to my sister!" "I'm going as fast as I can!" Paine felt sorry for Buddy, having to be around Brother all the time. "What do you have against Gippal anyway?" she asked him. "That back stabber stole my first crush!" Paine raised her eyebrows. "Even if he didn't do you think you would have a chance?" Buddy laughed. Brother turned away, hurt by Paine's words. Paine smirked. She looked out the window. "We're almost there." She murmured to herself.  
  
Paine stepped out into Djose. Yuna and Tidus had stayed behind. Yuna wasn't taking this well at all. Paine would have expected Rikku to react like this, but not Yuna. She walked across and entered. There was that cave again. That horrible cave. She walked past it with a shudder. She walked over to Gippal's room and knocked on the door. "Come in, but be quiet! I don't want to have to keep telling you! Gippal can't take all of our problems you know! Not like this!" Paine blinked. What the hell was this guy on about? She walked in. "Oh sorry! I thought you were an employee." Paine shook her head. "What happened to Gippal?" "We found him on the moonflow like this. He's sleeping at the moment. He's pretty much ok, just needs rest you know?" Paine nodded. She bent down beside him. Gippal's face changed a little when her shadow fell across him. He opened his eyes. "Paine" he croaked with a smile. She smiled back at him. "Do you know where Rikku is?" she asked him. No point beating around the bush. "She's not with you?" Paine shook her head. Gippal looked worried for a moment, but then, to her annoyance, he fell asleep again. Didn't he care? "We have heard nothing about her. We didn't even know she was missing. Sorry." Paine smiled at him and nodded. There was no point wasting words on either of them.  
  
As she was walking out, her attention was drawn to the cave. She didn't know what, or why, but something seemed to tell her to go in there. She didn't want to, but she couldn't ignore the feeling. She pulled out her sword and jumped in. "Ugh." It was so damp down there! She pulled a face and carried on walking. She ran in to a few fiends, nothing serious, when she saw a figure on the floor. She held on tighter to the handle of her sword, and walked closer. It was pretty dark down there, but as soon as she got closer she knew it was Rikku. She gasped and picked her up. She was unconscious. But worse than that, it looked like she was dying.

A/N ok! We are getting somewhere! Is Rikku dying? What will Yunie do when she sees her! And will Gippal ever wake up!? Find out next time...:p  
  
He says that if you talk to him in chapter 3 after Besaid and Kilika. No ones mentioned that!


	8. white, white and more white!

A/N: I have another story in mind, but of course I'm gonna finish this first! Only problem is I don't know how... :p Warning! If your squeamish, you might like to read some parts of my story with your eyes closed! Like the part where Rikku gets stabbed in the back (No, literally!)  
  
Paine carried Rikku back. The young blonde squirmed in her arms. Paine looked at her hopefully. But Rikku wasn't waking up. Her face looked disturbed. She must be dreaming. She was surprisingly light, but she was quite small, so it made sense. Paine dreaded the thought of telling Yuna. People turned and stared at her as she walked out of Djose. She glared at everyone who did. She walked along with her head up high and tried to pretend that she walked along with a girl near death in her arms all the time. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of her friend dying. She tried to push the thought out of her head, but it was there at the back of her mind, nagging her with every step she took. She walked up onto the Celsius. Brother came running first.  
  
Brother held his head in his hands. Hot tears stung him. He felt the lump at the back of his throat. Cid felt a familiar feeling at the thought of his little girl dying. Her beat up body lay on the bed. Yuna, Paine and Tidus sat at the back of the room. Yuna stared at the ground. She didn't say anything, not even when Cid had arrived. It was too painful to speak. Rikku lay there, at deaths door, and none of them could do anything to help her. Every now and then she would turn or toss so violently that they would be sure she was waking up. But she didn't. In her dreams she was living out the painful battle, again and again, feeling the wounds open up each time anew. She could see everything she was doing wrong, everything he was doing right, and it was torture. She could taste the blood, feel it flowing out of her, and with every mouthful she spat out, she could feel more replace it. Every strike of his sword he made against her, she felt ten times worse than when it actually happened. That seemed so long ago now. She knew that she wouldn't hold out much longer. She knew she was dying. Dream Seymour laughed even horribly than he had before, knowing what was happening too. He was stopping her from waking up, from being all right, from living. She couldn't be in the real world until she beat him. And that wasn't going to happen any time soon. So she did the only thing she could do. She ran.  
  
If someone told you dreams are just dreams, they're wrong. Every time Rikku was hit by dream Seymour, her wounds opened up. Blood seeped through her sheets. All of those in the room were asleep. Rikku started to kick her legs as she ran. Blood flowed down past her legs, making her slip. Her legs felt heavy, every part of her body was weak. Seymour was right behind her. His sword was swishing at her legs, cutting them each time. Her legs gave way and she collapsed. She looked behind her. Seymour smiled an evil smile. He raised his sword. Rikku closed her eyes and waited. His sword plunged into her back. She woke up with an agonising scream. Yuna leapt up and saw the blood spurting out of her back. Startled cries were heard by everyone on board. Except Rikku. Everything was just background noise for her. All she could hear was her heart beating, her ears pounding, her breaths failing. The blood covered the whole of the bed. She gasped for more air, but everything was stopping. She fell back against the bed and saw one last face staring back at hers. A face with an eye patch across part of it. Gippal grabbed her hand. But all feeling had gone out of it. The blood was all over her and she was lying in it. She tasted it in her mouth. She opened it and it blood came pouring out. She closed her eyes. She felt a rush of relief as the pain stopped. The blood stopped.  
  
Rikku looked around her. All she could see was white. She looked down at herself. She stood out like a sore thumb. Still no one would see. If she was dead, which she figured she was, then surely she would be on the Farplane? But this was definitely not the Farplane. She looked at the white in front of her. Slowly, she put her foot out onto a patch and tapped it, to see if she could walk on it. It was solid. She could. She stepped out and began tiptoeing her way across. She was trying to get to another part, but it all looked the same. She felt lost. She began running. Still she got nowhere. If this is what it was like being dead, she felt very sorry for all those people. But then she thought that she was now one of them. She felt tears prickle at her eyes when this thought entered her Head. She sank to the white ground. Was everything here white? She was alone, she was lost, and to top it all off she was dead. What a fun day. And all this thanks to Seymour. Seymour? Did Yuna know about Seymour? No of course not, she hadn't told her. How was she gonna tell her, if she was dead? Anger built up inside her. If she didn't tell Yuna, the whole of Spira could be in trouble. Hmm. This seemed familiar. Once again Seymour was trying to kill them. "Oh well, at least he isn't trying to marry anyone this time" she thought. She had to get out of here, had to tell someone, anyone. "This is all your fault!" she screamed. There wasn't much point because Seymour wouldn't be able to hear her, but still, sometimes you just have to scream. She counted to three. Then she shrieked out the loudest scream she could. She closed her eyes and did it again. And again. And again. She kept on doing it till her voice was hoarse and her throat sore. She tired herself out. Her eyes felt heavy. She found herself sinking to the floor, lying down. She felt pain in her back. Her arms lost all feeling. She noticed that she had closed her eyes. The pain got worse until she was in agony. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from crying out. She slipped further and further into unconsciousness, gradually. Soon enough she was gone.  
  
Yuna looked at her cousin. Blood was pouring out of her, yet she looked peaceful. Gippal looked down at his hand. It was covered in blood from where he took hers. Paine stared at the blonde girl. Her eyes took in everything. Quite obviously she was bleeding from her back. Paine understood that. But what she didn't understand was why. How had she got hurt? They had been asleep, true enough, but they would have noticed if someone snuck in, wouldn't they? But how had she fallen asleep anyway? She wasn't even tired; worry should've kept her awake. But for some reason she fell asleep. They all fell asleep. It made no sense to her. She kept playing it out in her mind, but each time she just got more confused. It was so frustrating. She looked over at Cid. Poor guy. He was really taking it badly. And if he was taking it badly then Brother was devastated. Cid had his head in his hands and trying to hide the fact that he was crying. Brother couldn't have made the fact that he was crying more obvious even if he publicly announced it to the whole of Spira. Wearing Yuna's moogle costume. Paine had caught him trying it on a few times after Yuna had been wearing it. He was pacing up and down muttering various things in Al bhed that was hard to understand because he was sobbing so hard. But Paine didn't need to understand to know how much pain he was in.  
  
Tidus stood on deck. Shinra and Buddy were beside him. None of the three said anything, didn't have to. They were in shock mostly. But the breeze of the cold night air felt good on Tidus's face. It helped clear his head. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Rikku; she was like a little sister to him. But there she was, bleeding to death, and there was nothing he could do to help her. His hair flew about his face, getting in his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to brush it away. Buddy felt cold, but he liked the fresh air. He couldn't stand the sight of blood. And oh boy was there a lot of blood. Thinking about made him feel sick. He almost was sick. But he ran out here, and it helped. If he closed his eyes he would see her face in pain. He could hear her grasping breath. This made him feel worse than all that blood. As for Shinra, well he was just a kid. Tidus had taken him out here, saying even a wunderkid shouldn't see that. Shinra had no complaints. Even though his voice remained emotionless, you could tell he was worried by the little things he did. Tidus was sure if he took that mask off his face would show his emotions. Did Shinra ever take his mask off he wondered. He had never seen him. Tidus realised what he was thinking and scolded himself for not being worried about Rikku. For letting himself get distracted. Still, it made him feel better. But he did feel guilty that they were all in there, worrying about Rikku, while he was out there, getting a bit of air. But Buddy and Shinra were with him too. That made him feel a little less guilty. But only a little. Rikku opened her eyes. She could see all the whiteness. But it was blurry this time. She couldn't focus on anything. Not that there was anything to focus on. She blinked a couple of times. To her surprise the white world subsided into a different place. She could just about make out people, but couldn't tell who they were. They just looked like blobs to her. Still they didn't seem to be paying much attention to her, so she didn't disturb them. Her eyes felt heavy still. She lay back and gave a sigh. The blobs turned to look at her now. She blinked trying to get her eyes to stop being so fuzzy. She lifted up her arm and rubbed her eyes. This was really hard to do. She closed her eyes. She realised that the blobs were speaking. She tried to listen to them, but was like a whole other language. She opened her eyes and found they were focusing a little better. They resembled people better now. But she couldn't work out their faces. She squinted at one of them. She could tell this one had brown hair. That was it. The people were yelling now, and three more came in. "Why wont they let me rest?" she thought. "Why are you yelling?" she croaked. She couldn't work out the reply. She closed her eyes again and tried to sleep. But she found herself rudely being shaken.  
  
Cid took her by the shoulders and shook her awake. He wasn't having her sleeping all day again. They had to talk to her. "Fyga ib!" (Wake up) Rikku blinked and stared at the man who held on to her. "Vydran?" (Father) her eyes scanned the room. She could make out the faces clearly and now recognized them as her friends and family. Framily. She could hear too. That shake must have done it. "Fryd rybbahat du oui?" (What happened to you) Gippal asked her. "Fryd rybbahat du sa?" (What happened to me) "Oh! Dryd'c fryd E haat du damm oui!" (That's what I need to tell you) She noticed Tidus and Yuna looking confused. She would have to really teach them Al bhed one day. Properly, not using Al bhed primers. They couldn't keep up.  
  
He looked at their faces. Shinra thought they looked happier when Rikku was dying. He couldn't understand it. According to Yuna they had beat up Seymour again and again. He wouldn't tell him he didn't understand though; he was a genius after all. It wouldn't look good for him. He noticed Gippal looking a bit confused and walked over to him. "Ec ed dryd pyt?" (Is it that bad) he asked quietly. Gippal nodded and smiled. "Afraid so." His expression changed to serious. Yuna started pacing. Rikku hated it when people did that. Yuna chewed her lip and turned to her. She opened her mouth then closed it again. She looked like a fish. She frowned and then opened her mouth again. Then closed it again. Paine sighed and turned to Rikku. "Are you sure that you were in the cave fighting him?" she asked for Yuna. Yuna nodded enthusiastically. Rikku rolled her eyes and nodded. They had checked up on every detail of what she told them so far. If they didn't believe her she wouldn't bother next time. Tidus looked thoughtful. "That is where you said you found her, so it would make sense, wouldn't it?" he asked. Rikku raised her eyebrows at them as if to say, "See!" Yuna thought about it, then finally said, "Are you completely sure it was Seymour? It wasn't someone who looked like him?" "Ur vun lnoehk uid muit! Yes I am sure!" (Oh for crying out loud) Yuna looked out the window. She sighed. "Well, I guess the only thing to do is go down there and..." "Kick some ass?" Paine said helpfully. "Something like that." Yuna grinned at her. Cid frowned. "Well, sorry Yuna, but I don't think I'll take part in this one. If you don't mind" he added. Rikku smiled. "That's ok pop. You're getting to old anyway!" Gippal smiled. "She's got a point, gramps." Cid glared at them. "Fydlr ed oui dfu!" he growled. (Watch it you two)

Hokey pokey! What's gonna happen next time? Are they going to go down to the cave and kick some ass? Of course the are! Read my next chappie and you'll see!  
  
A/N well this chapter is definitely longer! I'm going on holiday tomoz! So you'll have to wait till Friday for me to write anything! But what do you think?


	9. I hate you!

A/N I just got back from holiday! And guess what? I had a fight with my daddykins. About his snoring mostly. So, I thought why not do a chappie about Cid and Rikku's relationship! And I don't care if you don't like it, just read it! (I'm lying. I DO care if you don't like it. Sob. :p) And if they seem a bit OOC, tough! It's just my bad authoring. Buddy will seem very OC in this. Just warning you.  
  
"Oh god, Vydran, grow up!" Rikku glared up at the man who she called pop. He was sulking, as usual. Is that all he ever does? "It's because he's getting old," Gippal had told Rikku, "It's about the only thing that doesn't take up too much energy. I mean all he has to do is stand there and not talk to anyone. And if that's too much work he could sit down and do it!" Rikku had dreaded her father's reaction. She could take the yelling and screaming and picking up Gippal and practically chucking him across the room, (She suspected Gippal couldn't though) but sulking? That was just too childish for words. When she said that though Paine had pointed out that that's what _she_ always did. But so what? Rikku was allowed! She was only seventeen! But here she was lecturing her pop on growing up! Why did he always do this? What was he sulking about? About her and Gippal. Why did he hate Gippal so much? Rikku didn't have a clue. All right so maybe they should have told him at first, but they didn't tell anybody. Tidus said he was so upset because he thought that Gippal was taking her away from him. "What a load of crap!" Had been Rikku's answer.  
  
Rikku's glare hardened. Though it probably would've been more intimidating if she wasn't in bed. But she couldn't walk, couldn't even roll over, without shooting pains all up her back. Paine couldn't help smirking. Not only did she get to see Gippal get beat up (near enough), but here was Rikku trying to look scary, and failing in every way possible. A good day so far. Still, it did amaze Paine that here was Rikku, announcing that the bastard Seymour was back, had everyone looking terrified for ages, and was now arguing with her dad. How did she do it? Paine looked at Cid's face. She was surprised. He actually looked calm. Not like Cid at all. Was he up to something? No way. He wasn't smart enough to be up to something. Although that wasn't really fair to say because she didn't know him _that_ well yet, but meh. Paine could tell what people were like from first impressions. It was easy if you were as good as her. Cid carried on looking at Rikku calmly. Hmm. Maybe Paine didn't give him enough credit. It_ did_ look like he was up to something. She could tell Rikku was getting weirded out by this. "Ku du cmaab, Rikku." (Go to sleep Rikku. Yeah I like writing in al bhed.) And with that he turned curtly on his heel and stomped out of the room.  
  
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Yuna stared at the floor. It hadn't been pretty. She wished Rikku and Gippal could've kept it a secret for a little while longer. They could've saved everyone some embarrassment. Well, it's not the most romantic thing, while you're kissing your boyfriend, to have your father charge in and scream, "Get your dirty mouth off my daughter!" Rikku wouldn't stop accusing Brother of telling her dad. Yuna didn't think this was that fair, but that was mainly because she was hurt that Rikku had spent every minute since she woke up with Gippal. She was her cousin; she needed to know about how she was. They tell each other everything, as soon as these things happen. Nothing gets in the way. Nothing. Tidus had said Yuna was being over sensitive because she was tired, which just hurt Yuna even more. Was this be mean to Yuna day? It sure felt like it. Even Cid was ignoring her. He was always happy to see her, but he just stormed out not even glancing at her. Even Brother didn't talk to her. That was when Tidus told her she was being selfish. She couldn't believe he had said that. He's never said anything horrible to her. And that was down right mean. So, what do you do in times like this? You go to the most down-to-earth guru you can find. Buddy.  
  
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"Buddy?" where the heck was he? Not in the cabin, not in the bridge, not on deck. The only place left was the engine room, but why would he be down there? Still, it was worth a try. Yuna took a double check up on deck, but there wasn't any way she could miss him really. She sighed and stepped back into the elevator. The door closed with a loud thunk, and the cool air washed over her. It was nice. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. She felt the elevator begin to move. It was kinda fast. A loud clunk this time made her open her eyes again. The door slid up, and the hot and humid air came in from the engine room. She hated it down there. It was noisy, hard to breathe, and above all, hard to talk. Which is what she needed to do. She pushed her hands against the side to lift herself out, and walked down the steps. "Buddy?" she heard a faint reply over the noise. "Down here Yuna." She looked under the stairs and walked along the purple carpet to the door. Buddy's room. Brother's was opposite his. Yuna could never understand why they wanted their rooms down there. Well, they were kinda crazy. Yuna opened the door, not bothering to knock, and looked at the room inside. It was a dark blue inside. It fitted Buddy perfectly. Blue walls, blue chairs, blue bed sheets and pillows, and blue wardrobes. His light had a blue lampshade that gave the room a blue glow, which it really didn't need. Yuna smiled at it. It was a nice place. You couldn't even hear the noise from outside. Well, barely. Buddy sat in the chair, reading a book, but his eyes looked up as she walked in. he gave her a knowing smile, and invited her to sit down.  
  
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Paine looked across at her friend. Tears were in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them spill over. This was the first time that she had seen her trying not to cry. She was cheerful, most of the time, but when she needed to cry, she cried. She wouldn't look at Paine; she just kept staring at the fascinating bed sheets. Not. Paine didn't know what to do. She felt that sitting there was best, at the moment. It saved her having to say anything, at the least. Rikku started pulling at her scarf. "Uh-oh. She's thinking," Paine thought. She couldn't help frowning. It annoyed her so much when Rikku pulled at her scarf. She couldn't help but notice that Rikku had let a tear roll down her cheek. She sighed. "It'll be ok, Rikku. I promise." She looked at the blonde, waiting for her to reply. "Uh, Rikku?" Rikku blinked. "Huh? What? Did you say something?" Paine eyes flashed. "Rikku, I don't know why I bother!" Rikku frowned. "What? What did I do?" Paine narrowed her eyes and pushed herself off her seat and walked out. As she was in the doorway she turned back to face her. "I'll give you a piece of advice Rikku. Don't focus on your own problems. It makes it worse. For everyone." Rikku watched her go. She blinked after her. "My head hurts."  
  
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"Buddy, I..." "No one's ignoring you." Yuna's eyes widened. How the hell did he know? He must of understood her confusion because he said, "It's easy to tell." He smiled at her. Yuna found herself returning the smile. "It's just that everybody's tired and confused, so they don't want to talk to you. Or maybe this is their way of dealing with it." Yuna raised her eyebrows. "And you know this, how?" He grinned at her. "I guess I'm that good." Yuna smiled, but lowered her gaze to the floor. "I guess I'm just so used to the attention. Usually somebody's there to talk to me." She looked up to Buddy, who was reading again. "Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Buddy looked up. "Hmm? Oh sorry, this book is pretty cool. Someone should make a movie sphere of it." Yuna rolled her eyes. So much for her guru.  
  
Yuna sat in Buddy's room for a while, trying to get her head cleared. She wanted to talk to Rikku, but she was still a bit hurt. She wanted Rikku to know she was upset, but not too much. If she told her, that would be too much, and if she didn't that might not be enough. Wait! What was she thinking! Rikku had almost died, and here she was, thinking horrible thoughts! She needed to talk to Rikku. She looked at Buddy, who was still reading, and mumbled a thanks. Then she walked back into the engine room. She suddenly thought of Seymour. When she did she could feel that disgusting kiss, lingering on her lips, from the day he married her. She shuddered. She felt horrible. She needed to wash her lips!  
  
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One lip wash later and Yuna was on her way to Rikku's room. The elevator took too long. She started tapping her foot. How Paine would hate to see that. She smiled at the thought of her friend's face. Where was Paine anyway? Was she with Rikku? Probably. Yuna couldn't help wondering where Gippal had got to, after being chucked across a room by Cid. She couldn't help smiling a little at the thought. Then she remembered that she still hadn't got around to quitting the machine faction. For a guy who goes round saying we shouldn't always rely on the high summoner, he had been asking for her help a lot lately. The lift reached its destination with a nice loud thunk. What happened to a clunk? That was the noise it always made when it got somewhere. Yuna shrugged and waited for the door to open. But instead the lights went off. "H-huh! What's going on!" who was she asking anyway? She shook her head, deciding she was going insane. "Uh, hello?" she was starting to panic. She banged on the door. "Aaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhh! Get me out!" she was really going mad now. She kicked the door. "Yeouch! Oh god that hurts!" she grabbed her foot, and hopped about a bit, trying to take the pain away. As usual, it didn't work. She tried to see, but the blackness was impenetrable. What would she see anyway? She took a deep breath. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!" she waited for an answer. Couldn't anyone hear her? "I'm STUCK!" still nothing. She sank to the floor. She started hammering on it. She heard something this time. "Look's like the powers out. I hope nobody's in the lift. God knows how long it will take for it to come back on." Yuna's eyes widened. "W-what? No! For the love of Spira NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She hit the floor harder. She guessed it was Buddy who said the thing about the power and she hoped he would be able to hear her. "Yunie?" Yuna stopped. A muffled voice was the best thing to hear right now. "Rikku? That you?" Silence. "No! Don't go! I need help! Dammit! Rikku get back here!" "I am here." Yuna blinked. "Oh. Um, can you maybe get me out of here? Before I go crazy?" A bit late for that, she thought. "Uh, how?" Yuna thought about it. How would she get her out of here? The power! "Turn the power back on! I'm freaking out in here Rikku!" she heard the sound of footsteps. And then they stopped. "Yunie? Um, I can't get down. The lifts the only way, and uh, you're in it." Yuna blinked. "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!"  
  
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Buddy examined the central power thingy. He sighed. "This could take a while, if it were just an ordinary person, but in the hands of an al bhed, it's way too easy! Unless of course you're Brother..." he tweaked at it and hit and tweaked some more, but after a couple of minutes, the power came back on. Above him he heard someone screaming, "Yeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!!!!"  
  
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Cid paced about. "And then, she has the nerve to talk back to me! I mean can you believe it boy!" Rin smiled at him. But he was obviously bored out of his skull! Cid stopped suddenly. "You know, I shouldn't be talking to you about it! I should be talking to Rikku about it! Oh I'm gonna go over there and give that girl a piece of my mind!" Oh thank god for that, Rin thought.  
  
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"Rikku!"  
  
"Oh no! He's back!" Rikku slapped her forehead at the sound of her father's voice. She could hear the lift going up. Why couldn't it get stuck while he was in it, instead of Yuna? Uh-oh. He's here. "Poopie."  
  
"Rikku, E fuhd ymmuf ed." (Rikku, I won't allow it.) Rikku frowned. What was he on about? "Won't allow what, Vydran?"  
  
"You know perfectly well what!" Um, did she? She frowned harder. Cid sighed. "Well I'll be, I didn't realize you were that stupid! I will not allow you to see that...Boy again!"  
  
"You can't do that!"  
  
"Can't I? I think I just did! I swear Rikku, if I ever see you with him again, I kill him!" Rikku couldn't believe he was being that unfair. "What do you have against him anyway?"  
  
"That's my business! Now shut up and go to sleep!"  
  
"I hate you!"  
  
"Sometimes I wish I could say that to you!" Rikku stared at him, open- mouthed. She couldn't believe he just said that. She pulled the covers over her head, and waited till she heard him leave the room. Then she burst into tears.  
  
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Yuna sat on Rikku's bead, hugging her cousin, who was currently drowning her in a pool of tears. "I hate him! I hate him!"  
  
"He didn't mean it Rikku."  
  
"Don't stick up for him Yunie! Whose side are you on?" Yuna frowned. She wasn't on any side.  
  
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Cid sat sulking. As usual. Maybe he shouldn't have said that to Rikku. But it was too late to change it. He looked at his airship. "Cant you go any faster!" he yelled to the guy driving it. "Uh, sir?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We may have a problem."  
  
"Oh? What's that?"  
  
"Our engine's not working! We're falling!"  
  
A/N Ooh! A bit of a cliffhanger there! Is Cid falling? Can they stop it? I guess y'all just have to see! Remember Rikku's last words to him!  
  
Special note for  
  
**digital-tiffany**: I could never ever kill Rikku off! She's the best character! And I wuv you too! (Only as a friend) deityofdeath69: what the? Glad you like the story!  
  
**Ultimate Xdeath**: I'll try not to rush it, but I can't promise anything! I took you're advice. Guess you probably noticed that though. But uh, what does transition mean? I'm just a kid.  
  
**John Allerdyce: is it great?** Or are you lying? YOU LIE! –_Gets carried away to the mental_ _hospital_- :p thanks for saying it was great!  
  
**punkygal:** I am updating. Thanks for saying it was great! Or are you lying? YOU LIE! --  
  
**cute-kitty2**: maybe I am dragging the cave thing out. But maybe I'm not? But maybe I am? But maybe...you get the picture.  
  
**Akiraton**: do you love the story? Or are you lying! Uh, ignore me. I have not finished yet.  
  
**mikeyowns**: I'll update soon enough! Impatient people! Joke! I'll try to update these things sooner!  
  
**Back of Beyond**: yes you did give me a review earlier, but I ain't complaining!  
  
**dear dolphin**: elephants never give up! Wait a minute...well I still wont give up!  
  
THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
**AlbhedRikku91**: thanks, I guess you know by now.  
  
**Shampooing**: thanks, I can't be bothered to go deeper. I'm lazy.  
  
**Cute-kitty2**: thanks, I think I already updated.  
  
**Gippikku**: thanks, its possible in my story for him to be that sweet.  
  
**Batcat**: aww! My first reveiwer! I don't know if you're still reading this, but I wuv you!  
  
THANK YOU all soooo much! You're the best reviewers a girl could have! So is anyone else going to review? 


	10. Stop reading my mind!

**A/N Hey, it's the chapter you've all been waiting for...The Gullwings get to kick Seymour's butt! Wow. This fic is coming to an end. But not just yet! Anyway, on with the story! Sorry it's late. And I think I'm lying. They don't kick his butt in this chappie. That's the next one.**  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy x2 and all that, but I do own the character that I made up for this chappie! Yay! :p  
  
**Special note for...Ultimate Xdeath**: yes! Yes it does! I knew that! No I'm lying. I didn't. Ain't I dumb? Which makes me wonder why I'm in the top group for almost everything at school... Thanks!  
  
Cid looked at the man. His mouth hung open. He took a deep breath. "Did you just say, we're falling?" the man nodded. Cid rushed over to the window. "Well I'll be. So we are" he whispered. "So we are." He watched as the ship took a vertical dive down. The sky got further, and the sea closer. He closed his eyes. And then he heard a crash. And that was it.  
  
Yuna wrinkled up her nose, as a damp, musty smell came from the cave, up to her. "Ugh! Does it always smell like this?" she asked Tidus. He shrugged. "I don't remember it." She looked to Paine. Paine just shook her head. Yuna sighed. This was going to be a long day. She jumped into the cave. Her boots landed in something very, very squelchy. "Ewwww! This place is getting worse!"  
  
"Its almost like its, rotting." Tidus looked at Paine. "How do you mean, rotting?" Paine looked at the floor, then jumped in herself. "Hey! What do you mean rotting!" Paine turned to look at him. Her face had a sarcastic look on it. Tidus wasn't sure he wanted to know what she was going to say. Yuna looked back at them. "Hey, you guys coming or what?" Paine blinked at Tidus, then turned and walked to Yuna. Tidus sighed, and jumped in the cave, landing in the squelchy thing, and slipped up. Yuna laughed. He was becoming more like Rikku. She half expected him to say owie. She had forgiven him for what he said, put it down to stress, as Buddy said she should. But she couldn't help enjoying the position he was in at the moment. Whatever the squelchy thing was, it was all on him now. She stopped laughing when a crackly voice spoke to her. "Yunie, its Rikku, are you alright?" Yuna smiled as her cousin's voice picked up hopefully. "Yes we're fine, but even if we weren't, there is no way you're getting out of that bed to help us! If we need help we'll ask Gippal or someone. Ok?" She heard her cousin give out a frustrated sigh. "Yunie, I have never been so bored in my whole entire life! Get me out of here!" Yuna rolled her eyes and switched off her transmitter. (I don't know if that's what it's called, but it sounded kinda right.)  
  
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Rikku stared at the wall. It was the most interesting thing to do at the moment. She sighed, kicked her legs around, under the covers. Honestly, she felt fine. Her back barely hurt anymore. But no one believed her. She was bored of waiting around. She was bored of sitting there doing nothing. She was so bored! She let out a small scream. Unfortunately, Brother had his radar way up, for anything sounds of distress, and was up there in seconds. "What's wrong?! What happened?! Rikku?" She stared at him. Then she kicked the covers off, and shakily stood up. "What are you doing?!"  
  
"I'm getting up, and I'm going to help Yunie!"  
  
"Oh no you're not! Vydran fuimt gemm sa!"(Father would kill me)  
  
"E tuhd lyna!" (I don't care) and she reached into her pocket. "Cunno." (Sorry) and she pulled out a sleep grenade. She threw it at him. He fell asleep instantly. Smiling, she picked up her garment grid. Then she changed into songstress and put the grid in her pocket.  
  
Rikku poked her head round the door. Buddy was there. She smiled and stepped out. Buddy noticed her. "Hey! Shouldn't you be in bed?" She smiled wider. "I think maybe you should be in bed. You look tired."  
  
"Really? I don't feel tired."  
  
"I can change that." Buddy frowned at her. Then Rikku danced sleepy slumber. Buddy stared at her, then found himself falling asleep. He slumped against the wall and slid down. Rikku grinned. Now she only had to deal with Shinra.  
  
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Yuna slid along the floor. It was like ice. It was like the cave had melted, but now they were walking on, it had frozen over. She spotted a fiend nearby, and shot it. She killed it in one hit. "Too easy. Got anything better?"  
  
"Maybe I can be better." Yuna's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice. She looked behind her to Paine and Tidus, but they weren't there. She looked in front of her, but she couldn't see them anywhere. "Paine? Tidus? Are you there?" She waited for an answer, but all she could hear was silence. Then, "I don't think you'll find your friends." Yuna bit her lip. "W-who's there?" a figure stepped out from the shadows. Yuna had stopped sliding along the floor. She stepped towards the figure. The figure stepped towards her. It was like a shadow itself. She couldn't see anything apart from its outline. She was reminded of when they fought Maechen down there. That battle was over quickly. It was hard, but not hard enough she thought. She wondered if this would be the same. But she couldn't do it alone. She hadn't defeated Sin on her own. Or Vegnagun. Although an ordinary fiend she could do on her own. She remembered something Beclem had said to her, ages ago, when she first met him. "Summoners are worthless now. I don't know how you beat Sin anyway." Or something like that. She wasn't sure if he did say I don't know how you beat Sin, but she could tell that's what he meant. She showed him though. She beat his gunner's gauntlet. But it would have been so much easier to do these things if she could still summon. Maybe summoners really were worthless. "Indeed. Maybe they are." Yuna's eyes widened, and she bit her tongue to stop herself from gasping. Whoever or whatever the figure was, it had just read her thoughts, and that was not allowed! "It's allowed for me." Yuna's mouth dropped open. She checked herself though, and closed it. "Who are you?" the figure stepped closer. She caught a glimpse of its face. Or her face. She was beautiful, but Yuna could see the sadness on her face. Long black hair flowed down her back. She had dark blue eyes that seemed to know everything. She had olive coloured skin. But what really surprised Yuna, was that she gave off a feeling. A feeling like you shouldn't worry. A feeling like you were safe in her presence. And apart from the mind reading and snobby way of saying things, it looked like that was true.  
  
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Tidus skidded to a halt. Paine stopped behind him, neatly. "Its official. We've lost her." Paine rolled her eyes. "And whose fault is that?"  
  
"Not mine!"  
  
"Yes it is! You had to stop to get that fiend instead of following her! You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?" Tidus winced. "Well, you didn't have to help!"  
  
"Oh, so next time I'll leave you to die then, shall I?" she retorted. Tidus sighed. "Alright, you made your point. So how are we gonna find her?" Paine stepped forward, and overtook him. She carried on walking without saying anything. "So, we'll do it your way then?" Paine didn't even bother to look back at Tidus.  
  
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"I for one, don't think summoners are worthless. But that's just me. But if you look at it, you were a summoner, and you went on to save the world without your aeons for a second time. And Dona still manages to make herself useful. And Isaaru, actually forget Isaaru, all he does is play with the monkeys, but Seymour still managed to..."  
  
"Wait! What about Seymour?" the girl looked annoyed at being interrupted. "I was going to say, that Seymour still managed to hurt your friend, and, sadly, many others. And take it away."  
  
"What away?" the girl looked even sadder. "My kingdom. My people. Almost all of them. He destroyed my palace, turned the white marble into disgusting black stone."  
  
"Wait. White marble into black stone? I think Rikku said something about that! She said she..."  
  
"Woke up in what looked like a palace? And that it had white marble? But as she looked at it, it changed? And maybe, that it changed to black stone?"  
  
"Ok, you are freaking me out here!"  
  
"I'll stop." For the first time, Yuna saw her smile. Yuna smiled back at her. The girl straightened up. "You're probably wondering who I am, right?" Yuna nodded. The girl looked at her for a moment. "I'll tell you my name soon, but first I'd better explain some things." She smiled wider, and put on a Maechen voice. "Would you like to hear a story?" Yuna laughed. "You sound just like him!"  
  
"But younger?"  
  
"No, I don't think so!"  
  
"Uh! Well I'd better stop! But anyway. That white marble palace was where I lived. But Seymour came. He threw me out. He changed everything." She whispered the last bit. Yuna saw tears form in her eyes. The girl looked down. "I-I'm so sorry." The girl looked up when Yuna said this. "It' ok. I want revenge though. I want to help you. Please." Yuna blinked. She certainly didn't waste time making her point. Yuna chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." The girl brought her fists to her heart. "I wont. He can't hurt me more than he already has. Please? I can help!" Yuna sighed. She sounded so pleading. And kinda whiney. Like Rikku would. Yuna looked at her. "Are you sure you want to do this? I can't guarantee anyone's safety. Not even mine."  
  
"You never could! You thought you were going to die, but still fought Sin!"  
  
"Yeah, but I almost changed my mind, didn't I?" the girl grinned at her. "But that was because of him wasn't it?" Yuna felt a blush crawl up her cheeks. How did she know so much about her? "I can see your story by looking at you. I can see everyone's."  
  
"You said you were going to stop doing that!"  
  
"Oops! Sorry!" the girl raised her arm to her hair. As she did, Yuna noticed a charm bracelet on her wrist. It tinkled as she patted her hair. There was something strange about it. "What is that?" She looked to where Yuna was pointing. "My bracelet? It's like your garment grids, only prettier! Each charms a dressphere. Why?" Yuna shrugged. "It looks cool." The girl started digging around in her pocket. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Finding you one of course! Oh, here we go." She handed Yuna a bracelet with dresspheres already on it. "You can attach yours if you like, but they're basically the same. Mine are a bit stronger though!" she added with a laugh.  
  
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Rikku looked towards the sky. As she did she saw a gull. She remembered Buddy's story of how the found the ship. And above them they saw a gull. It was like it had come to save them. And then they ate it. Rikku grimaced. Well, she certainly wasn't eating any gulls. No matter how starving. She began walking towards Djose temple. Everybody just nodded at her. They didn't know she wasn't supposed to be there. They didn't know she had been hurt. Gippal however, might be more difficult. Well, she'd just have to dance him to sleep. But then she would have to put everyone who saw to sleep too. She hoped she was up to it.  
  
She walked into the entrance. Her eyes floated to the cave. When she looked at it, she felt pain all the way up her back, and in her stomach. And laughter in her ears. She felt dizzy. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked around the room to check Gippal wasn't there. He was. But he didn't even realize she was there. To busy flirting with Elma. "Cocky bastard." she muttered under her breath. "Well, why don't you go tell him off, shorty?" Rikku jumped at the sound of the guard's voice. The same one that made fun of her before. She spun round to look at him. She was happy to see his nose looked kinda broken from where she hit it. She smirked. "Want me to break your nose again?"  
  
"No! Geez! You women! Can't take a joke!" He walked off, sighing and shaking his head. Rikku turned back to Gippal. He was still flirting with Elma! Oh well, at least it kept him busy. She would have to tell him off about it later. She glared at his back. Then Elma noticed her. She frowned then looked at Gippal, and back to her. A smile crept on her face. Rikku shook her head violently. Elma smiled harder. She pointed at her. Gippal started to turn to look. Rikku looked around desperately. She saw the cave again. She hadn't realized she was that close to it. Her back hurt again. "Rikku? Hey! You should be in bed!" Rikku was about to jump in, when she felt a powerful hand shove her in, instead. Right on her back. "Eeeep! Owie!" she landed on her butt.  
  
She rubbed her back. That had hurt. She heard the chilling laughter in her ears again. The boulder in front of the entrance slid into place, trapping her inside. "No! Oh poopie!"  
  
"Oh poopie!" she heard a voice mock her. "Seymour, I swear, I will kill you!" she growled. The laughter was louder this time. It wouldn't stop. Louder and louder. She clapped her hands over her ears. "Stop! Stop!" But the laughter got even louder. It was deafening. Over the top of it she heard someone shout out to her. "Rikku? Rikku! Hey Cid's girl! What are you doing?" She had closed her eyes, and even though only one person ever calls her 'Cid's girl' she just couldn't figure out who it was. Well, actually, she thought it was Seymour, but then he was deafening her, and she was about to go crazy, so she had her reasons for not realizing it was Gippal. "Why wont you die? Why won't you die! Just go ahead and DIE!!!!!!"  
  
"Uh, excuse me? How about a hello or something? I don't think that's the nice way of greeting people, telling them to die. But I guess my manners aren't as good as yours."  
  
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Die! Die! Die, god damn you, die! Wait a minute...are you saying I've got bad manners! How dare you! I've got better manners than you, Gippal!" Gippal widened his eyes. "At least I don't go round telling people to die!" Rikku pouted. "I thought you were Seymour. And I may go round telling people to die, but I don't go round flirting with other people! Well, except Buddy, but I have my reasons!" she folded her arms across her chest and stared up at Gippal. Who stared down at her. "You flirt with Buddy?"  
  
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"You know, I don't think Yuna will be down there anyway, so how about we just go ahead and leave? Huh? Please?" Paine turned back to look at Tidus. "Scared?" she couldn't believe it. She'd expect this thing from Rikku, but Tidus? Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought. Tidus went red. "No! It's just I think that maybe we should have the whole team together before we go charging into bad guy head quarters!" Paine turned to look back at the palace. If you could call it that. It was made of a gross black stone, and had huge gargoyle statues in front of it. Definitely something Seymour would go for. At least that's what Tidus said. She sighed. "Alright, but if we don't find Yuna anywhere else, we're coming straight back! Got it?" Tidus pulled a face. "Alright," he sighed, "If I have to."  
  
"You wanna find Yuna, don't you?" Tidus nodded eagerly. Paine couldn't help but notice how much he looked like a little kid then. Or maybe a puppy. Even if he was older, she was charge at the moment. And that was the way it was staying!  
  
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"So, what did you say your name was again?"  
  
"Um, I didn't?"  
  
"Yeah I know. It's like an expression to get you to say your name. So what is it?" the girl smiled at her. "Princess Leanna IV, of Cayra."  
  
"Right. And where's that?" she laughed. "Well right here, silly! Of course that's my title, my friends call me Lea. Well, they would but..." She trailed off and bit her lip. Yuna thought she was going to cry again, so she said something hastily. "Right! Lea it is! Or princess Lea, if you prefer."  
  
"Nope! Lea is fine! So, we are we going?" Yuna was taken aback by this. "Well, I thought you would know?"  
  
"Oh! We're going to battle straight away?"  
  
"Oh! No! Uh, I guess we'd better find everyone then. Where are they?" Lea looked at a wall. Yuna couldn't help staring. Lea walked up to it and laid her hand on it. She turned back to Yuna. "The cave is dying. The palace kept it alive, but Seymour ruined it. Our protector will soon be gone. And our land open to everyone. We can't let that happen! My people aren't ready for that! The machine faction shouldn't have been here anyway!" Yuna gaped at her new friend. She sounded so angry. It was different to how she had been before. Yuna got the feeling that Lea had incredible power. She wouldn't want to be on her wrong side. Suddenly Yuna felt anger too. This was the second time her eternal calm had been threatened. Whatever Seymour was up to, he couldn't be allowed to do it. They had to stop him! She felt all of her anger fade, so quickly. She couldn't work out where it came from. Then it hit her. They were Lea's feelings. They had passed on to her, in her own anger. In her own style, as Tidus would say. She frowned at the princess. She really was powerful. But the feeling of safeness increased. Yuna would've thought it would decrease. Why did everything have to be so confusing? "That's what makes life interesting." Yuna blinked at her. "You said you would stop doing that."  
  
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For either Rikku or Gippal, the walk in the cave wasn't a nice one. Seeing as they weren't talking to each other, it wouldn't be. Rikku was sulking because Gippal had been flirting with Elma, and Gippal was sulking, because she had kept telling him to die. And that she flirted with Buddy. "Why do you flirt with Buddy anyway?" he had asked her. Rikku smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know." Gippal had glared at her. For the rest of the time they hadn't spoken since. Rikku didn't plan on telling him this, but her flirting with Buddy was one of their childhood jokes. When Rikku, 13, had come to Buddy, 15, and asked him how to flirt. She was good friends with him, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. So they had practiced on each other, and had been doing so ever since. But Rikku didn't think this was the sort of story that would make Gippal turn green with envy. Not that he could turn green. She couldn't help wondering what a green Gippal would look like. Probably kinda cute, in a hulkish way. (You know, the green dude, who goes round destroying things when he gets angry.) She kept glancing at him, trying to imagine it. He noticed and smirked. "You just cant keep your eyes off me, can ya Cid's girl?" Rikku's cheeks turned a deeply unattractive shade of red. She was going to say something cunning and witty, (She could practically hear Paine go, 'Yeah, right.') when she decided the truth would surprise him more. "Actually, Gippal, I was imagining you, green. If you want to know." She stuck her nose in the air and looked to see what his reaction was. She was pleased with it. Gippal looked horrified. "Don't worry, I think you'd look good in green." There. She was being nice. But of course, with him being Gippal and all, he couldn't return it. "You think I'd look good in anything. Admit it! You think I'm hot!" Rikku let out a scream. "You are such a pig headed...MEANIE!" She screamed again, and stomped ahead. "What? What I say?" Gippal had no idea about her did he? What happened to the other Gippal? Did her pops scare him away? Hmm. Rikku turned round and narrowed her eyes at him, as if that would help her see. It didn't, if you're wondering. It completely sucked. Before he was so nice, now he was...Gippal. Great. "Are you checking me out? You are aren't you?" He was grinning at her. He reached out and pulled her bandana over her eyes. "Hey! What are you doing?"  
  
"You'll have to wait and see!" he started spinning her round. "Aaaaaahhhhh! No! I'm getting dizzy!" He grinned wider. He stopped, and watched her. She could barely stand up straight. Perfect. She was trying to get the bandana back up. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed her. "What are you do...no! No stop! Stop!" But she was giggling too much to be understood. Why did he tickle her? Her weakness!  
  
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Paine stepped up to another dead end. This was getting to be really annoying. She kicked the wall. This was definitely her least favorite place. Tidus glanced up at her. That was the closest to her showing an emotion he had seen. Not counting the whole Rikku thing. Unless sarcasm was an emotion, but he doubted that. His eyes floated to the wall. She had made a deep dent in it. Bits were crumbling off. No she hadn't made a dent. She had made a hole.  
  
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Lea jumped back. A foot had come through the wall. A big hole was there now. Lea looked through it. "Hey! Stop damaging my cave!" she found herself looking at two people. A man and a woman. The woman had crimson eyes and greyish hair. She was dressed in black and had a sword gripped in her hands. Lea looked the person over and knew she was Paine. Then she looked to the man. Blonde hair and blue eyes. That would be Tidus. He also held onto his sword. Lea turned back to Yuna. "I think your friends are here." Yuna looked at her, confused. How did she know them? "I can do that thing, remember?" Yuna frowned at her. "Oh yeah, I was gonna stop doing that." She shrugged at Yuna. Then she gestured to the whole, and Yuna put her head there. She found herself bumping heads with Tidus, who was doing the same thing. "Ow!" he complained. Yuna rubbed her forehead. "Where have you two been? You left me!"  
  
"That was Tidus's fault. I was just saving his life." Yuna tried to look at Paine, but Tidus's head was in the way. She spoke to Tidus instead. "Why was she saving your life?" Tidus felt his cheeks go red. "Fiend" he mumbled. Yuna heard, yes she heard, Lea and Paine roll their eyes together.  
  
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Rikku started swiping her arms out to get Gippal. Not very easy when you have a bandana over your eyes. It makes it even harder when you being tortured. By tickling. She felt her arm whack something. Gippal stopped. Rikku seized this opportunity and sat up and pushed her bandana into place. She shook her head and looked over at Gippal. He was holding his nose and his one eye was glaring at her. "What?" he glared harder. "You boke my dose!" Rikku giggled. "What?" he moved his hand. "You broke my nose!"  
  
"That's the second time I've done that in a couple of weeks." He frowned. Rikku looked at his nose. She smiled sweetly. "I can't have broke it. It's not bleeding. Didn't you know that? Uh-oh! Evil glare!" She hadn't seen him look at her like that since they were kids, and she'd 'accidentally' dropped a cake on his head. He deserved it. Rikku smiled even sweeter. Gippal put his hand out and pushed her forehead. "Ow! Meanie."  
  
"I'm so horrible aren't I?" Rikku looked at him. She wondered if she should ask... "Gippal?"  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"Why...what...uh..."  
  
"Why? Because I wanted to. What? What, what? Uh? Duh." Now it was Rikku's turn to glare. "Let me finish the question! Um, what were you...never mind."  
  
"No what?"  
  
"Uh, doesn't matter!" She turned to go, but Gippal grabbed her arm. "What were you gonna say? C'mon, you can ask." Rikku looked at him. "Did you ever kill anyone?"  
  
"That was your question?"  
  
"No I'm lying. But did you?"  
  
"Yep! Thousands." He walked ahead of her. She followed him. "No, really, did you ever kill anyone?"  
  
"Yeah, thousands, I already told you."  
  
"No, really?"  
  
"Thousands."  
  
"Gippal!"  
  
A/N: My, my. What a nice ending to the chapter. Gippal sounds like my brother at the end! But anyway...  
  
**What will happen next time? Will Rikku ask the question? Will Yuna be able to stop Lea from reading her mind? And I'm sure next time they will kick Seymour's butt! Promise! Well, maybe.**


End file.
